Workers lose jobs and homes as contractors change

A decision by oil and gas giant Woodside to change contractors at its Karratha Gas Plant in the Pilbara has highlighted the harsh reality of the transient resource sector.

The company has awarded a $150 million contract to Australian engineering company Monadelphous to conduct maintenance work at the site from next year.

That spells the end of a long term maintenance contract with Transfield Worley Services.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union says as a result, up to 70 jobs could go at the plant by the end of the month.

Among those who have lost not only their job but their company housing is a supervisor who wants to be known as Adam.

"I'm in a Woodside house, I've been told I've got to be out by the 31st of December," he said.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, I've got teenage boys and I've got to find somewhere for us to stay.

"I'm not the only one; there are probably about 20 people in staff houses who've got the same issue, let alone other people who've got their own houses, and then they've got to find schooling for their kids and decide if they're going to stay in town or go.

"It's made it pretty hard on everyone."

Adam is unsure how he and his family will spend Christmas now he is out of a job and a home.

There are currently 160 maintenance workers at the plant.

The union says 21 workers have been retained, 25 have been told they do not have the required skills and have not been offered new contracts, while the remainder have not been contacted.

Critical change

The AMWU's state president Tony Hall is critical of the way the change is being managed.

"Normally, when it comes to a contractor picking up a contract over another contractor, is a good number of that workforce being picked up," he said.

"I've been a union official for 21 years and this is the worst managed transition I've ever seen.

"We do have a number of people who've lived their lives in Karratha working on that gas plant who are now being told you're not required, and we'll bring in people from elsewhere.

"We're turning around and saying well what about the commitment that Woodside says it has to locals?

"There's a moral obligation upon Transfield, upon Monadelphus and upon Woodside to make sure the locals actually retain positions within the communities that they've lived in for the past 10 to 15 years."

In a statement, Monadelphous confirmed it expects to recruit a number of employees of the current contractor, saying it's committed to the Pilbara community.

A company spokesman says it is working through a process of interviewing and contacting applicants, and expects to complete that within the week.

Jason is another former employee who received a phone call ending his job.

"I've lived in Karratha 30 years and worked at the gas plant for seven," he said.

"I was rung and then another local fella that's been here eight years, he just got knocked on the head.

"Earlier this morning one of the other boys came in (after being told) he didn't have a job anymore."

Jason says his main concern is his family.

"My young bloke's an apprentice, my daughter's out at Rio (Tinto)," he said.

"It's a bit hard for them to live in town without the support of their parents and a house to live in."

Mixed messages

Jason says he's had mixed messages from Woodside and the new contractor.

"Our initial contact with Monadelphous was they were going to hire as many locals as they possibly could," he said.

"Everybody went away thinking oh that's great - it made people feel a little bit better.

"Then as people started getting knocked on the head, everybody started to become unsure."

That's a claim echoed by Mr Hall.

"The commitment we had from Monadelphous is 'yeah, yeah, we will pick up a good portion of the current employees," he said.

"They were told the change would have little effect on job security."

Jason says he feels misled.

"We're grown men, they don't have to bullshit to us, they can tell us straight out," he said.

"They could've told us weeks ago about it - especially for people that might have move down to Perth, they could've started getting kids organised at school.

"Now it's just a mad rush for everybody."

The CEO of the Karratha Chamber of Commerce and Industry, John Lally, says he hopes experienced local workers won't be replaced with fly in, fly out employees.

"What wouldn't be good is if a lot of the local people lost their positions with the current contractor and then those positions were taken up with FIFO because as far as we're concerned, that would be most unsatisfactory," he said.

"Everybody's got to sympathise with those people, especially at this time of the year.

"Transfield has been there a long time and a lot of those people have lived in the area for a number of years.

"We can't tell companies what to do and what not to do but we expect them to do the right thing as far as the local workforce goes."

Mr Lally says the unpredictability of job opportunities is the nature of the industry.

"It's becoming a reality that jobs do bounce around a bit," he said.

"Hopefully for these people, the worst case scenario is if they did lose their position there they may be able to pick up another position while living in the town.

"Obviously, they are skilled people and we're told by the gas and oil industry they're seriously short of skilled resource people."

In a statement, Woodside has told the ABC it acknowledges it's a difficult time for the Transfield Worley workforce involved.

"We have been working closely with Transfield Worley on a phased demobilisation plan for their residential staff in company housing and have met all requests for accommodation extensions," a spokeswoman said.

"The health and welfare of our direct and contractor employees is a high priority and we have offered peer support services to affected individuals and the broader workforce."

Woodside said it remains committed to its workforce in Karratha and the broader Karratha community.

That is no consolation to Adam who is now without a job and a home.

"We're not too sure what we're doing," he said.

"Locals who we've known for ages have offered us bedding, housing and Christmas at their house."

In the new year, Adam does not know if he can find another job in town or whether he and his family will have to leave Karratha and start all over again.

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